28 March 2012

Do not adjust your set. This is not the 1980s. But it is sort of like it. Remember 'Getting your colours done'? It's back.

Do you remember in the 1980s when everyone was getting their colours 'done'? Obviously I don't, because I wasn't born for the first couple of years of the 1980s, and was more interested in what kinds of muck I could smear onto my clothes than the clothes themselves for the rest of the decade. Anyway.

The first time anyone mentioned colour analysis to me was when a kind-of-relative (assuming you can call the mother of the chap who married someone who's sort of your cousin apart from all the step and half relatives in between a relative...) sang its praises to me the best part of a decade ago. She persuaded me (and my kind-of-relative) to go and have our 'colours done' and I, after much to-ing and fro-ing (turns out I have freaky skin tone) was analysed as 'Clear and Warm', which roughly tranlates to a Clear/Bright Spring within other systems, if you're interested in such things. I could instantly see the benefits of the analysis - pretty much all the colours within the little swatch book I was given matched one another, and all of them looked good on me. In theory, at least.

Very quickly, though, I realised that some of my (wide range of) colours weren't actually that great on me, and began to self limit to only about a third of my palette, and gradually more or less forgot about the whole thing.

However, two children and a bit of a style crisis later, I began to look into the idea again, and became more and more interested in the process and the power of wearing your best colours (when you're getting less than four hours sleep a night you need all the help you can get to look healthy, right?). The interest turned into fascination, and I quickly read anything I could lay my hands on that covered the subject. And there is a lot of reading matter out there, of varying quality.

Late last year I finally bit the bullet and got re-analysed by a House of Colour consultant and was surprised (although not entirely shocked, given the research I'd done) to come out as an Autumn. For various reasons I am infinitely more comfortable with this analysis, not least because my lovely consultant talked me through every single aspect of the process and made sure I was completely happy with each step before carrying on. And finally, I have the holy grail - a palette of colours that co-ordinate perfectly and make me look healthier! And it, turns out, being an autumn doesn't mean a lifetime of beige and coffee colours - indeed, most of my best colours are the brighter colours within my palette (House of Colour, unlike most other analysis systems, 'score' the colours within your palette so you know which ones are best near your face and which ones to stick to trousers and skirts with).

Now, try not to laugh, but seriously, if you've never thought of doing it, I can't recommend having a colour (and style, but we'll worry about that another day) analysis highly enough. Make sure you pick a consultant who has been fully and properly trained (House of Colour do the most in depth training I know of in the UK, and Sci/Art consultants in the States appear to receive great training too, although the two analysis systems operate slightly differently). If you're in the South East I'll happily recommend my consultant, but the training that House of Colour give is so thorough that I reckon you'd be safe visiting any of them.

Oh, but maybe think about avoiding the whole thing if the idea of abandoning your trusty white or black clothes terrifies you - I know a few people who just cannot cope without black, for all that it makes them look like a freshly dug corpse.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to attempt to track down a top in my perfect green...

Comments

Do not adjust your set. This is not the 1980s. But it is sort of like it. Remember 'Getting your colours done'? It's back.

Do you remember in the 1980s when everyone was getting their colours 'done'? Obviously I don't, because I wasn't born for the first couple of years of the 1980s, and was more interested in what kinds of muck I could smear onto my clothes than the clothes themselves for the rest of the decade. Anyway.

The first time anyone mentioned colour analysis to me was when a kind-of-relative (assuming you can call the mother of the chap who married someone who's sort of your cousin apart from all the step and half relatives in between a relative...) sang its praises to me the best part of a decade ago. She persuaded me (and my kind-of-relative) to go and have our 'colours done' and I, after much to-ing and fro-ing (turns out I have freaky skin tone) was analysed as 'Clear and Warm', which roughly tranlates to a Clear/Bright Spring within other systems, if you're interested in such things. I could instantly see the benefits of the analysis - pretty much all the colours within the little swatch book I was given matched one another, and all of them looked good on me. In theory, at least.

Very quickly, though, I realised that some of my (wide range of) colours weren't actually that great on me, and began to self limit to only about a third of my palette, and gradually more or less forgot about the whole thing.

However, two children and a bit of a style crisis later, I began to look into the idea again, and became more and more interested in the process and the power of wearing your best colours (when you're getting less than four hours sleep a night you need all the help you can get to look healthy, right?). The interest turned into fascination, and I quickly read anything I could lay my hands on that covered the subject. And there is a lot of reading matter out there, of varying quality.

Late last year I finally bit the bullet and got re-analysed by a House of Colour consultant and was surprised (although not entirely shocked, given the research I'd done) to come out as an Autumn. For various reasons I am infinitely more comfortable with this analysis, not least because my lovely consultant talked me through every single aspect of the process and made sure I was completely happy with each step before carrying on. And finally, I have the holy grail - a palette of colours that co-ordinate perfectly and make me look healthier! And it, turns out, being an autumn doesn't mean a lifetime of beige and coffee colours - indeed, most of my best colours are the brighter colours within my palette (House of Colour, unlike most other analysis systems, 'score' the colours within your palette so you know which ones are best near your face and which ones to stick to trousers and skirts with).

Now, try not to laugh, but seriously, if you've never thought of doing it, I can't recommend having a colour (and style, but we'll worry about that another day) analysis highly enough. Make sure you pick a consultant who has been fully and properly trained (House of Colour do the most in depth training I know of in the UK, and Sci/Art consultants in the States appear to receive great training too, although the two analysis systems operate slightly differently). If you're in the South East I'll happily recommend my consultant, but the training that House of Colour give is so thorough that I reckon you'd be safe visiting any of them.

Oh, but maybe think about avoiding the whole thing if the idea of abandoning your trusty white or black clothes terrifies you - I know a few people who just cannot cope without black, for all that it makes them look like a freshly dug corpse.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to attempt to track down a top in my perfect green...

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A boring note on copyright

I would be thrilled if you want to link to any of my posts, pages, Flickr photos etc, but please leave my images and words where they are and ask before going beyond what might feasibly be called personal use of any patterns, tutorials etc. I am especially aware of photos of my children - I know pretty much everyone is aware of how sensitive these kind of issues can be, but I'll say it just in case: Do not re-post or copy any pictures of my kids.